MUMBAI, Oct 11 (Agencies): Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the chairman of The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), replacing Gajendra Chauhan.

Kher, 62, said he was "deeply humbled and honoured" to be appointed chairman of the "iconic FTII".

"I will perform my duties to the best of my abilities," he said in a tweet.

Kher, a graduate from Delhi's National School of Drama (NSD) who has appeared in over 500 films and many plays, was conferred the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts.

The government didn’t give an extension to Chauhan whose appointment was welcomed with a 139-day long strike by students.

A television-actor-turned-BJP-member Chauhan’s tensure of one year and seven months was the most contentious in the entire history of the institute. There were many a thing he managed to fix but was also accused of being vengeful in denying scholarships to students who were part of protest against his appointment.

Kher, also had criticised the decision. “I personally feel that FTII represents a certain art form… it does certainly need a person having a great body of work which means he is supposed to know world cinema, he is supposed to know the present state of cinema like editing. But certainly , TII needs somebody who is much more qualified than whatever Ganjendra ji’s qualifications are coming across,” Kher had said according to a agenciesreport.

SRINAGAR, Oct 11: Following a call by separatist leaders to students to protest against the braid chopping incidents, the state government has ordered closure of all colleges and schools in Kashmir tomorrow.
The joint separatist leadership of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik today asked the students to protest tomorrow against the growing braid chopping incidents. The separatist leadership postponed the march to TRC Ground called for October 14 and said such